Now a time of healing for Chicago Archdiocese

The Chicago Archdiocese on Thursday laid bare more details of one of the Catholic Church's greatest failings and embarrassments.

The sexual abuse of children at the hands of priests.

This is the second release of information on abuse dating back to the 1930s. These 36 priests - about half of them having been affiliated in some way with suburban churches - account for a quarter of the 352 cases of abuse the archdiocese investigated and deemed "substantiated" largely dating back to 1952.

In January, in accordance with a 2006 mediation agreement with an attorney who has represented victims of priest abuse, the archdiocese detailed the abuses of 30 priests who officials say accounted for 75 percent of those cases of abuse.

Thursday's disclosure of documents was done by the church without any oversight by the plaintiffs' attorney, something that left him "skeptical." Much of the descriptions of abuse was redacted to better protect the victims' identities, church officials said.

Cardinal Francis George, who leaves his post next week because of his declining health, insisted that the release of documents on the remaining 36 priests be done before the end of his time in office in order to provide a clean slate for his successor.

Make no mistake. The release of this information is not an end but a beginning.

If Cardinal George and Cardinal Joseph Bernardin before him were the men who set things straight, it will be new Archbishop Blase Cupich who wears the mantle of healer.

Because there is much healing still to do.

How well Cupich adheres to George's pledge to forever eradicate this problem within the church will become clear over time. But with this latest public examination of what went on and how the church failed in its protection of kids, it is clear the church is on the right track.

Its comprehensive education process that seeks out signs of abuse and provides avenues for reporting it seems to be working well. The church does a much better job of vetting people, eliminating opportunities for abuse and empowering people, including children. It also includes lay experts in its investigations of abuse claims.

The archdiocese has treated the problem seriously since 1992 and, by the church's accounts, cases of abuse ended more than a decade ago.

To date, the archdiocese has made settlements to more than 60 people in the amount of $130 million. And there are about 50 legal claims pending at any given time.

The release of information represents a deeper commitment to ensure that, to the extent possible when dealing with a criminal mindset, such behaviors are not repeated. It's important and valuable that the church is owning up to what happened in the past, but in addition to healing its reputation and its crisis of confidence from the past, the important task is protecting children from now on.